Family Fridays | Our Favorite Books

Posted on February 23, 2015

My last “Mondays for Mamas” post was about Caroline’s favorite iPad apps, so I thought this time I’d go old school and show you some of our favorite books. (Also, the photo above is a sneak preview from Emmett’s documentary family session, which you’ll see posted later this week).

Ok, so onto books.

My husband is an English instructor at Virginia Tech, and I have a bachelor’s degree in English (along with music… neither of which are photography, which just goes to show that YOU NEVER KNOW what will happen after college). As educators and English fans, we are both big believers in the power of reading and books. Our bedtime routine for both Caroline and James includes about 20 minutes of book time, and we try to take them to the library frequently to switch up the repertoire. Of course, our favorites are not always theirs, but we have found a few winners to share with you (and their links for Amazon purchase).

James’ favorite books (age just-past 1):

Honk, Honk, Baa, Baa by Petr Horacek
This book is incredibly simple. It’s just a bunch of animals and what they say. It’s not even poetically written. But for some reason, James really, really loves it. Perhaps it’s because the pages are cut like lift-the-flap pages, which makes it easy for little fingers to turn them. Also, the art is very colorful. James gives this book one enthusiastic thumb up (and the other thumb in his mouth, because teething is the worst).

Moo by Matthew Van Fleet:
This is another animal book that James would like to read 100 times in a row. It’s got lift-the-flaps, pop-ups, pull tabs, and touch & feel material as well as a little poem about the animals and their families on each spread.

Little Blue Truck and Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurry:
More animal sounds, but this time there are talking vehicles as well. 100% James-approved, and I approve of all books written in tightly-metered rhyme like this one, because it helps develop rhythm.

Caroline’s favorites (age almost 4):

The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne:
My husband has been reading these to Caroline, and although they are chapter books and she’s only 3, she loves them. They tell the story of Jack and Annie, who visit new and exciting worlds through their magic spinning tree house (and the help of their books). Caroline is really imaginative, and she really enjoys these stories despite there being only one picture per chapter.

Muddle and Match for Girls by Holly Brook Piper:
This book is a fun way to begin stories each night (my husband prefers regular reading, but I love our make believe story time). Each page is cut into thirds and shows a picture of a girl hero (a ballerina, a mermaid, a space traveler, a cowgirl, etc) and an alliterated sentence about her. You flip the pages to mix and match characters and descriptions. Caroline has requested the boy version for her birthday, and I just saw there is an animal one as well (adding to the wishlist!).

Boo and Baa Have Company by Olaf Landstrom:
This was a random library find that we all loved. Boo and Baa are two sheep, and while theyr’e busy raking leaves, a cat sneaks into their yard and gets stuck in a tree. It’s very simple, but incredibly cute. Like, OK, one sheep has to have five sandwiches while he’s stuck in a tree trying to get the cat. That’s my favorite part. It’s actually a series of books and it seems to be out of print, but there are used versions on Amazon.

This book is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a book with no pictures. Instead, it is full of silly words and sentences that you, the parent, must read aloud. Caroline finds it hilarious and so we do.

And they BOTH love:

Tip Top Cat by Roger Mader:
This is the story, told mostly through pictures, of a cat who likes to go on the roof. Spoiler alert: he falls down (but he gets back up again). They both requested it repeatedly the week we got it from the library.

Bailey by Harry Bliss:
My school library media specialist picked this out for Caroline to take home one day, and they both wanted to read it over and over and over and over again. It’s about a dog, Bailey, who gets up in the morning and goes to school. He does all the things the school kids do, but of course, he does dog things too. It’s cute and funny. Caroline loved the speech bubbles in the pictures (which we had to read aloud, every time, much to my dismay) and James liked the dog. They both love the school bus. We’ll probably be adding this to our home collection soon.

Baby Einstein, My First Words:
This is one of those books that we got as a gift and tried to hide from the kids. It’s bright, a bit garish, has a plasticky cover, and is totally not our style of artwork. There is no story, just collections of themed pictures (toys, food, animals, etc). And yet, both our kids have enjoyed it. James loves to point to pictures and hear the words. He even points to the sailboat and then signs “more” to get us to sing his favorite sailboat song. Caroline has reengaged with this book because she can “read” it to her brother. I therefore buy it for pregnant people whenever I can, with the full knowledge that they’ll likely hide it on the back of a shelf but their kids will find it and love it.

The Pull-Back Busy Train Book by Fiona Watt: I am adding this because I had to defuse a big sibling argument today about who got to do this book and for how long. It comes with a little plastic train that actually drives across grooved tracks on the pages as you read. It’s innovative and really fun, and I think you need to buy it for anyone under the age of… I dunno… 39? It’s a great gift book, anyway.

So, what books do your kids like?

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